Today is my orientation at Brigham Hospital. I will be given a tour of the hospital with the other doctors who got into the program. I will also be meeting the resident who will be responsible for me my first year here. All the new residents were gathered in a lecture hall where the chief came in to give us all a welcoming speech.

We were then directed to who our superior will be. Mine is Dr. Michelle Knightly. She gave me and the four other doctors who have her a brief introduction and a list of expectations she has for us. Dr. Knightly then had us all introduce ourselves to one another. The moment I said my name was Meredith Grey, they asked me if I was related to famous surgeon Dr. Ellis Grey. I said yes, and quickly moved on from that topic.

We went on our tour of the hospital after all the introductions. It lasted an hour. We were then told to go receive our hospital badges and pagers from the front desk.

"Your'e so lucky Dr. Grey is your mom." Ashley Cardwell said. "Founder of the Grey Method. Genius. Can you please introduce her to us?"

"No?" I said.

"Why would Ellis Grey want to meet you anyways?" Hayley Peters said. "She isn't wrong about you being lucky though. I'm sure you're going to have some advantages."

"I bet she only got into the program because she's Ellis Grey's daughter." Andrew Cooper said.

"I guarantee you all I got into this program all on my own. And I'm not going to have any advantages or special treatment because I'm the daughter of a well-respected surgeon. I also don't want to be associated with my mother. I want to be recognized for me, and my work. You guys can think as you wish about me and where I come from, but my mother did not and will not have any part in my medical career besides supporting me through it."

After I completed orientation, I drove straight home. As I approached my mother's house, I saw Nick playing with a couple of his grandkids, while Mrs. Shepherd watched. I pulled into the driveway, and got out of my car slamming the door shut.

"Hey Meredith!" Mrs. Shepherd waved.

I stopped and looked her way forcing a smile. "Hi."

She walked over to me. "Today was your orientation, right? How did that go?"

"Oh, um, it well. It wasn't anything special. I was given a tour of the hospital and met the other residents I'll be working with."

"Grammie, look!" A little girl on a bike shouted.

Mrs. Shepherd turned to look. "That's Kathy's daughter, Sophie. And that's her twin sister Madeline playing with Nick. We're lucky enough to get to spend the day with them."

"That must be nice." I smiled. "You have a lot of grandkids. I met Nancy's two back when Derek was visiting. Nick also mentioned that Lizzie has three?"

"Yes, our daughters seem to keep us on our toes with all of the grandchild they're producing. It just seems like one after the other after the other with all the pregnancies. I have to wonder who will be next. Anyways, I won't keep you. I just wanted to say hi. I'm glad everything is going well for you."

"Bye Mrs. Shepherd."

I headed inside the house. I walked straight up to my room and collapsed into my bed. I was hoping nobody would find out I'm Ellis Grey's daughter. Now they're all going to assume I cheated my way to this point.

I wanted to call Derek to tell him about my day. He told me the day we went to that carnival if I ever need a friend or someone to talk to about anything to call him. That's exactly what I need right now. But I can't call him. I ruined it when I misread him, and kissed him that one night he came over for dinner. I haven't seen or spoken to him once because of how embarrassing the entire situation was. I cringe just thinking about it.

One thing Derek and I did talk about that night did cross my mind. He told me I should try to make amends with my sisters. I decided I'd call my youngest sister Lexie. I've always had the better relationship with her than I did with Molly. I laid in my bed listening to the ringing as I waited for an answer. On the last ring she answered just as I was about to give up.

I quickly sat up in my bed. "Hey Lexie... It's Meredith."

"I know, I have caller ID. What's up?"

"I was just wondering how you and Molly are doing. We haven't talked in a while."

"We're fine. Molly actually moved across country with her boyfriend. He's like in the navy or something. Got stationed in South Carolina."

"How's dad taking that?" I asked.

"He's upset, but what can he do about that? She's Nineteen. She's an adult. She can do what she wants."

"Right... Well, I'm not sure you heard, but I graduated from med school a couple of months ago. And today was orientation for my residency program. My peers are already assuming I'll receive special treatment because of my mom. They're ridiculous."

"Is there a reason why you're calling Meredith?" Lexie asked.

"Am I not allowed to call my sister without there being a reason?"

"I don't think you've called since my birthday in April."

"It's not like you called me either."

"You were always busy with med school. Seemed like never was ever a good time."

I sighed and laid back down on my bed. "Listen, I'm sorry... for everything. I'm sorry I haven't tried more. And I'm sorry you and Molly got caught up in the issues I have with dad and your mom. I know they were amazing parents to you guys, but it was different for me being the odd one out. Don't get me wrong, dad was a great dad to me up until I expressed my concerns with him and he called me a liar. Now, you can believe what you want about what happened; I'm sure they told you one thing while I'm telling you another. At the end of the day, we're sisters, and sisters fight and argue. But then they make up and forgive each other because they're sisters."

I heard Lexie sigh. "You're not wrong about mom not wanting you around. I just didn't want to believe mom would say that because she was always perfect to Molly and I. I guess you could say we were just in denial. I can't blame you for not visiting either, especially after what happened at your high school graduation."

I sat back up confused. "What?"

"Dad slapped you."

"You saw?"

"Molly and I both did. Dad told us to go back to the car, and when we turned around, he slapped you."

"Why have you and Molly acted like I'm wrong then?"

"Like I said, we were young and stupid and living in denial. Mom and dad were always painted as the perfect parents. Mom was obviously far from perfect if she hated you for no good reason. I heard her talking on the phone recently about you graduating from med school. She said something along the lines as the only reason why you finished is because your mom bought your way through it."

"That definitely sounds like something she'd say."

"I'm sorry for her behavior." Lexie said.

"You don't need to apologize on her behalf."

"So, I just completed my first year of college at Washington State. I was thinking of becoming pre-med. What do you think?"

"I think you'll be working your ass off. Are you ready for that?"